Romney Backs Israeli Stance on Threat of Nuclear Iran

JERUSALEM — Mitt Romney said Sunday that preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear capability should be America’s “highest national security priority,” stressing that “no option should be excluded” in the effort.

“We have a solemn duty and a moral imperative to deny Iran’s leaders the means to follow through on their malevolent intentions,” Mr. Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, told an audience of about 300, including a large contingent of American donors who flew here to accompany him. “We must not delude ourselves into thinking that containment is an option.”

The speech, delivered at dusk overlooking the Old City, was short on policy prescriptions, as Mr. Romney tried to adhere to an unwritten code suggesting that candidates not criticize each other on foreign soil. But there were subtle differences between what he said — and how he said it — and the positions of his opponent.

While the Obama administration typically talks about stopping Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, Mr. Romney adopted the language of Israel’s leaders, who say Tehran must be prevented from even having the capability to develop one.

“If Israel has to take action on its own,” Mr. Senor said in a briefing before the speech, “the governor would respect that decision.”

The visit to Jerusalem, in the middle of a seven-day overseas tour that began in London and continues on Monday in Poland, was largely a series of photo opportunities intended to shore up support among evangelical Christians who have been wary of Mr. Romney’s candidacy, and to peel off some votes from American Jews dissatisfied with Mr. Obama’s handling of Israel. It went smoother than the London stop, in which Mr. Romney appeared to be insulting his hosts by questioning their preparations and enthusiasm for the Olympic Games, but the campaign struggled somewhat with the delicate diplomacy of being a candidate abroad.

After reports of Mr. Senor’s comments were published, he issued a new statement that did not mention unilateral action, and later he said he was not necessarily referring to a military strike. In an interview with CBS News, Mr. Romney stuck with the softer stance, saying only, “we respect the right of a nation to defend itself,” and also hinted at the strained choreography of the day.

“Because I’m on foreign soil,” he said, “I don’t want to be creating new foreign policy for my country or in any way to distance myself from the foreign policy of our nation.”

A few hours later, his 15-minute speech did include one vague shot at Democrats.

“We cannot stand silent as those who seek to undermine Israel voice their criticisms,” he said. “And we certainly should not join in that criticism. Diplomatic distance in public between our nations emboldens Israel’s adversaries.”

Photo

Mitt Romney, on a seven-day overseas trip, met with President Shimon Peres of Israel at his residence in Jerusalem on Sunday.Credit
Stephen Crowley/The New York Times

He also referred pointedly to Jerusalem as “the capital of Israel,” something Obama administration officials are loath to do, because Palestinians also imagine the city as the future capital of their hoped-for state. The line drew a standing ovation from some in the crowd and, later, an echo from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who underscored, “Jerusalem will always be the capital of Israel.”

Mr. Netanyahu, whose relationship with Mr. Obama has been rocky, was generous in his praise of Mr. Romney. “Mitt, I couldn’t agree with you more, and I think it’s important to do everything in our power to prevent the ayatollahs from possessing the capability” to develop a nuclear weapon, the prime minister said earlier in the day. “We have to be honest and say that all the sanctions and diplomacy so far have not set back the Iranian program by one iota.”

The visit, Mr. Romney’s fourth to Israel, coincided with the solemn fast day of Tisha B’av, which commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Jewish Temples of Jerusalem. Between meetings with Mr. Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad of the Palestinian Authority, Mr. Romney and his wife, along with several of the donors, made a pilgrimage to the Western Wall, the holiest site in Judaism and a central symbol of the holiday.

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Standing with the chief rabbi of the wall, Mr. Romney, in a black velvety skullcap, was handed Psalm 121 — “He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” — and later inserted a note into a crack between the stones, as is traditional (campaign aides declined to reveal its contents).

The scene was more like a campaign rally than a solemn place of prayer. Women stood on chairs to peer over the fence that divides them from the men, many of whom clapped and waved as the candidate and his entourage snaked through; people actually praying were pushed to the back as security officers cordoned off a space for the candidate.

“Jerusalem, the capital of Israel,” one man called out. “Beat Obama, Governor!” said another.

Shepherding Mr. Romney at the wall was J. Philip Rosen, a Manhattan lawyer who owns a home in Jerusalem and helped organize a $50,000-per-couple fund-raiser scheduled for Monday morning. Mr. Rosen said Sunday he expected up to 80 people for the breakfast, up from his estimate on Friday of 20 to 30, because of the influx of Americans.

Among those who flew here for the event were the casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who has vowed to spend $100 million this political season to defeat Mr. Obama and wore a pin that said “Romney” in Hebrew letters; Cheryl Halpern, a New Jersey Republican and advocate for Israel; Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets; John Miller, chief executive of the National Beef Packing Company; John Rakolta, a Detroit real estate developer who led the finance committee for Mr. Romney’s 2008 presidential bid; L. E. Simmons, the owner of a private-equity firm in Texas with ties to the oil industry; Paul Singer, founder of a $20 billion hedge fund; and Eric Tanenblatt, a Romney fund-raiser in Atlanta who had never visited Israel. Scott Romney, the governor’s brother, and Spencer Zwick, his national finance chairman, also were on hand.

They were greeted at the King David Hotel here on Saturday night with gift baskets that included white skullcaps, which many wore to the Western Wall, and Israeli chocolate bars made with Pop Rocks. Some spent Sunday touring Jerusalem, while others observed the fast; after the speech, Sander Gerber, a hedge fund financier, and Mr. Rosen were among those who made a makeshift minyan for the evening service, standing between lines of alternating American and Israeli flags and overlooking the Old City.

As they have for months, Mr. Romney and his aides played up the relationship between the candidate and Mr. Netanyahu, who worked together in the 1970s at Boston Consulting Group. During the morning meeting, according to someone who was there, Mr. Netanyahu at one point showed Mr. Romney a PowerPoint slide show with detailed information about Iran, and joked about how it was reminiscent of their consulting days. Later, the two men and their families shared a post-fast dinner at Mr. Netanyahu’s home, which Mr. Romney pointed out he had visited before.

Danny Ayalon, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, said in an interview that any closeness between Mr. Netanyahu and Mr. Romney — or distance between the prime minister and the American president — was irrelevant.

“Netanyahu and Romney may be of the same cut ideologically, but this is beside the point when it comes to leading countries,” said Mr. Ayalon, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States. “For us it shouldn’t and it does not matter at all who will be the next president. We should not get involved, and I am happy to see that we are not involved, even though there are those who are trying to look microscopically to see if there is any favoritism. It is folklore more than anything else.”

Correction: August 1, 2012

An article on Monday about Mitt Romney’s trip to Israel misidentified, in some editions, the city from which David E. Sanger contributed reporting. He was in Dallas, not in Washington.

David E. Sanger contributed reporting from Dallas.

A version of this article appears in print on July 30, 2012, on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Romney Backs Israeli Position On Facing Iran. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe